Happy St. Patty's Day!

Ok, yes, Im a day late but whatever. I'm Irish all year round so every day is St. Patty's Day to me! I hope you all enjoy the weekend and drink up! Make us Irish folk proud!

(note-to-self: Yuengling does make make very green beer. BUT, it's still delicious!)

Special Surprise!

My Grandma always has always had Drake's Devil Dogs in the house ever since I was little. They are amazing and you can only get them up north (as far as I'm aware) so they were always a treat when I was in NY visiting. This novelty has not been lost on me as I have grown up. I was recently visiting my Grandma on Long Island and couldn't keep  my mitts off of the things. They are so yummy.

So, today I receive a package in the mail from my Grandma. This is completely unprecedented. I'm used to getting holiday cards from her but I can't remember a time when I ever got a package so I was confused... until I opened it and found SEVEN boxes of Devil Dogs. It was hilarious and awesome and I immediately began eating them. Uriah had never had one before and although he still thinks that Ho Hos are better (blasphemy), he likes them and I think we'll plow through the 7 boxes faster than we probably should.

What was really cute was that my Grandma was so tickled to have sent them to me. It was adorable and she was so pleased with herself for thinking about it and following through. I'm happy to recieve large boxes full of goodies and I'm wishing that I had more self-control.

A Little Southern Comfort

I made a new thing today! And it's not an apron, it's FOOD! Yummmmy. I got my new Simple and Delicious magazine (a part of Taste of Home) in the mail a few days ago and I spotted a recipe that looked well, simple AND delicious! Also, I had most of what I needed to make it in my posession already so, I knew that I would be making it some time soon. That time was today, my friends, today.

'What is this magical recipe?' you may ask. Well, dear friends, it's a good ol' southern staple (that I have never had coming from a yankee family), Chicken 'n Dumplin's! You have to say it like that or else it's not authentic.

SO, this was what I like to consider a "semi-home-made recipe" (hello Sandra Lee). It involves using staples from your pantry like, biscuit mix and cream of chicken soup. I didn't have cream of chicken so I used cream of mushroom but, as I told my husband earlier, I consider most of those soups to be completely interchangable. Turned out delicious! Take a gander!

Make it for yourself!
What you need:

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies (thawed). I suppose you could use fresh ones if you're feeling fancy

2 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup undiluted (again, I used cream of mushroom)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning (I didn't have this so I just sprinkled in my own mix of seasonings and then some extra pepper because I like pepper)

Dumplings:
1 cup biscuit/baking mix (bisquick, people!)

1/3 cup French-fried onions, coarsley chopped (to avoid walking around the store forever like I did, these are kept by the canned green beans)

7 Tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

In a Dutch oven (don't have one, used a large non-stick pot), combine the first 6 ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the biscuit mix, onions, parsley and milk until just moistened. Drop by heaping teaspoons full into simmering stew. Cook, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean (Do not lift the cover while simmering - duh).

That's all! Spoon into very large bowls (trust me, you'll want a lot) and enjoy!

Chowdah

My parents are awesome and as a gift every year they renew my subscription to Taste of Home magazine. I love when I get it in the mail and I sift through it and pick out recipes to try. This time, I saw this recipe for Chicken Fajita Chowder and it just looked too good (and easy) and I couldn't wait to make it! The only thing I did differenly was that I used chicken stock instead of water because that generally makes things yummier :-)

So tonight, I did! I didn't take a picture because, well, it didn't look like it would photograph well. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was awesome! Uriah and I ate it up and there are a lot of leftovers!

And again!

I'll stop posting these, I promise! Well, I can't promise but I just love how they all turn out and I want to share! I can't wait to have some extra time to make some of these and put them in the the SHOP but for now, I am making special orders almost non-stop. Which is a good thing, but I would like to build up inventory in my shop!

This was made in conjuction with another in the same fabrics (but in the original style) for one of my old High School Teachers! She doesn't teach anymore and she's young and fun and lives in DC! She sent me a message on FaceBook requesting these! I was so excited to make them!

What my Superbowl Sunday looked like

I was flying solo on Superbowl Sunday because Uriah was in VA on a snowboarding adventure but that didn't stop me from going all out for myself. I don't really care about football but I really love chicken wings and beer so, I went to the store to buy supplies and  then came home and made myself some delicious wings! They were crispy and yummy and just as good as any that I could by at the local bar!

Recipe:

In a large bowl mix together 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp salt.

Coat your wings in the flour mixture and place in a single layer on a foil-lined and greased baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes turning over 1/2 way through baking.

Toss in Sauce and enjoy!

New Lappy!

So after about a month of being with out a laptop (and many hours of Uriah trying to fix it up), I finally got a new one today! WooHoo! Uriah found a great deal on a brand new HP laptop and we promptly went out to buy it! We had to go to 2 locations to get it (sold out at the first) but, our mission was successful and now I have a pretty pretty brand new 'puter! Uriah is a little jealous that the new toy is mine instead of his but, I think he'll get over it ;-)

And now for something completely different - part 2!

I think that the porportions on this one are better than the pink one.

And now for something completely different...

Today I made a NEW kind of apron. I finally got the hang of 'gathering' fabric so that I can make little ruffle-type skirts! This isn't the best picture and I'm not sure why the bottom layer looks so sad and heavy but, I'll fix that :-)

Cold rainy days need cookies

Ok so I was planning on making these for Valentine's Day but, I needed a sweet treat and something to do. I got the recipe from... somewhere I can't recall at the moment. They're basically chocolate chip cookies, just using M&Ms instead. Pretty straight forward and might I add... delicious. They're also pretty cute and festive!

Uriah took all of the cameras to VA with him this weekend (snowboarding) so, all I had at my disposal was my iPhone. Enjoy the view!

I still love you!

Oh interwebs, I'm sorry I have been neglecting you. I have recently opened up my Etsy store ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/abibi ) and I actually interviewed for a job that I am waiting to hear back from. Keep your fingers crossed! Being employed would be pretty sweet!

Let me share with you something fun that I got just before I opened up the store!

WooHoo! A dress form! It's currently just used to make my aprons look pretty and professional whilst being displayed on Etsy but, I hope to one day use it to make clothes or something. It's adjustable so, that's pretty neat.

Doesn't that look nice and professional? I thought so. It helps when Uriah takes the photos with his fancy camera instead of me using my iPhone. Shocker, I know.

I'm going to TRY to make an effort to update this more but I'm currently pretty busy creating things for special orders, the store and etc. 

I have a plan for baking something for V-Day so, you can expect a post then (hopefully).  

I'm alive, I swear!

Hello there Blog!
Bad news, my laptop died. Uriah spent the majority of the weekend trying to figure out a way to resurrect it but it was no use. Not having a computer strapped to me 24/7 is inconvenient but it has allowed me to be infinately more productive than I typically am. Example:

Yesterday I cleaned my closet. It's a rather large closet. I now have a giant box of stuff to give away/donate/whatever. It was kind of sad because most of the stuff in that box is just simply too small for me now (too many delicious treats, I suppose). Man, I wish that I could have my college body back...**daydreams**.... I did make a discovery, there was a box full of shoes that I guess I never unpacked when we moved here. Happy day! I now have 1000345489234321 pairs of shoes and my husband is going to kill me. :-)

And today! Well, today I was going to make some delicious Oatmeal Raisin cookies but discovered that I was out of brown sugar and needed it for this particular treat (a special request from Uriah). So, instead of making something delicious and yummy to push me even farther away from that college body, I vacuumed and mopped. Significantly less fun but definately more necessary. I fun'ed it up by watching Maury whilst doing said activities. I love the Maury show. Other people's ignorance is entertaining to me on a level that I am almost too ashamed to admit... almost.

So, now my house is clean and free of baked goods and I'm just waiting around waiting for it to be 6:00pm or so so that I can reward myself with a glass of wine followed by Taco Night!

My favorite things - episode 1

Don't get too excited. I'm not Oprah so, it's not like I'm going to be sending you gifts in the mail but I WILL be telling you about things that make me happier than they should. Turns out I'm more of a "simple girl" than I thought (I guess unemployment will do that to you).

Anyway, back to business. On today's episode of "My favorite things", I will share with you... PIZZA! If you don't like pizza, I don't know if we can be friends (but I guess that means more pizza for me so, maybe we can be BEST friends! haha). My favorite kind of pizza used to be something delivered to my door by a large chain but, after venturing into making it myself, I now typically prefer to make my own. However, the NY style pizzeria by our house is amazing and my measly pizzas can not compare to the glory that is Luigi's Pizza.

The first time we made it, Uriah and I made our own personal pizzas. They were delicious and are now on our menu at least once every 2 weeks. Although now, I just make one giant pizza.

Out with the old

In with the new!

New sewing machine, that is! My fabulous husband bought me a brand new Brother CS6000i sewing machine for Christmas! I didn't ask for one but his insight is always on point. My old machine IS from when I was in middle school for crying out loud. It works just fine and I'm not going to be getting rid of it (uh-oh... Hoarder) but it will be nice to use this beautiful new computerized machine with 60 different types of stitches (60! Whoa! That's a lot).

This is my old set-up. My 14(?) year old sewing machine and a pair of scissors that I stole from our home office (not exactly fabric-sheers but they did the trick).

iPhone photo

And my NEW set up! My new Brother CS6000i sewing machine, 24x36inch self-healing cutting mat, Gingher rotary cutter, fabric sheers and pinking sheers. Baller.

iPhone photo



I haven't actually sewn anything with the new machine yet but I can't wait! Obviously, I will post my new projects when I make them!





Happy New Year!

Hello there internet and welcome to the year 2011!

So, let's re-cap Christmastime. I gave my apron-gifts to their intended recipients and they were well recieved! I don't think anyone could believe that I made them (which was kind of flattering and a little insulting... I mean, I'm pretty handy. Don't people know that? haha). 

So anyway, here are some pictures of family members enjoying opening their hand-made-with-love gifts!



My grandma and Aunt! Grandma loves birds and my Aunt has a cow-themed kitchen!



It may seem odd to have given my brother an apron but, he actually requested one. His has wizards because I couldn't find anything space-related.

My mother-in-law was scared to use the pot-holders on Christmas day because she didn't want to get them dirty. Haha. I assured her that they were washable and she gave it.

Uriah's Aunt (pictured) and Grandmother got the same one. I wasn't there to witness this (thanks a lot sickness), but I heard they love them.

Aunt Gigi models hers!

So, there you have it folks, this is what we had been waiting for!

More to come on all of my fabulous Christmas gifts that I recieved (most of them involving sewing and baking/cooking... such a good little housewife I am going to become)

Guess what time it is?

CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKING TIME!

Holiday Cheer

So this is pretty much about nothing at all except for the fact that I wanted to share that I was bummed out that I had to clean the house today (because tomorrow shall be spent baking baking baking) and then I turned on the Music Channel on my TV an tuned ino "Classic Christmas". I feel much better now that I am dancing around my living room to pretty Christmas music while cleaning. Makes for a much nicer experience.

That is all! Merry Happy Everyone!

Impromptu Nachos!

Yesterday Uriah and I picked up some mexican take out at Salsarita's. It's basically like Chipotle or Moes. If you've never had the wonders of somewhat fast mexican food, you should investigate it. You won't be disappointed.

Anyway, Uriah got Rice&Beans as the side to his burrito (that had rice and beans in it.. poor choice, Uriah). Needless to say, we had some rice and beans left over and decided to keep 'em in the fridge with the best intentions of eating them. We always do that but rarely actually eat something like that.

So, today Uriah comes home from work and is looking for a snack. He's going to use the rice and beans as a dip with tortilla chips. Me, being the "Nacho Queen" as Uriah so nicely put it, had the idea of making nachos with the rice and beans, chips, salsa, cheese and sour cream. It was a grand idea. I love it when I can take what was going to be a run-of-the-mill/mundane snack and turn it into something that you would order at a restaurant.

Moral of the story: next time you have leftovers, get creative and you might just make something amazingly delicious!

I only wish that I had some jalapenos or something equally spicy and delicious to put on top.

Festive!

When Uriah and I shot our Christmas Card, we used a few yards of christmas fabric as a background. Well, I couldn't just fold it up and never look at it again so, I decided to make an apron (I know, I know, you're shocked). I decided to try to make a "butcher-style" apron to switch it up a bit sooo I made myself a pattern and got started.

For some reason, this apron gave me a super hard time but I got it together after a while. It's pretty but the proportions seem a little off. It's very long and the pocket is in a bit of an awkward place but, it'll do the trick of keeping me realatively clean while I'm baking all of those cookies for my mom's party. :-)

This picture really sucks. I should totally stop using my iPhone when I have multiple professional cameras at my disposal

This only used up 1/3 of the fabric that we have leftover so, I see a few more tries in my future.

Adobo!

No, no... not "Adobe".

Adobo is a delicious filipino dish! It's more or less meat (and maybe some veggies is you want), a ton of garlic, onion, soy sauce and vinegar. I realize that won't sound too appealing to most but I promise you... it's delicious. I've made it from scratch before and it turned out great but the other night I made it using a seasoning packet by Mama Sita's! 

I love making food from scratch but you can't overlook a good shortcut. Just disolve the packet in 1 cup of water and marinate your meat (for me, it's chicken and potatoes), then cook the meat in hot oil, add in the marinade and cook until it's all done/tender.

Uriah is filipino so this is like his comfort food. Also, it works well on a cold day because it's all warm and hearty (like stew).

I wasn't planning on posting anything on this but it turned out so well that I took a picture of Uriah's plate (this was his "round two" plate). It's not a pretty picture and his plate is all messy but, if you could taste it, you could definately overlook that. ;-)

Snap, Crackle, Pop

I had to go to the DMV today. It wasn't so bad (because I got there at 8am) but then when I got home, I noticed that they had spelled my name wrong on my license so, I had to go back. I had a lot of rage due to this but I swallowed it up when I got back to the DMV (where they then had to do EVERYTHING over again... Ugh). Anyway, after I left the DMV (for the 2nd time), I was in need of something to do to unwind (and a good little sugar rush). I decided to make some Rice Krispy Treats!

I'd never made them before but they seemed easy and all of the ingredients basically cost $2 soooo I went for it.

It was more challenging that I anticpiated. Those mama-jamas are sticky! Anyway, I got the hang of it and they turned out as anticipated.

I cut the treats into shapes with cookie cutters and I used "cookie icing" to decorate them and they kind of look like a small child did it. Oh well, they still taste good.



Decided to not knock myself out with the picture since they are not the most beautiful things ;-)



Pogi Project!

So the other day Uriah and I went to the fabric store to pick up some supplies for our Christmas Card Photo Shoot (which has yet to happen) and I decided to pick up some fleece remnants to make some dog toys for my favorite pup (and his doggy cousins and friends)!

Pretty simple project, all I needed was a template (I chose a bone), fleece and some fluff to stuff the thing with. It turned out pretty well (for a 10 minute project)!

Pogi seems to like it. He hasn't even destroyed it yet!

Gearing up for Christmastime!

My mom gave me the task of making cookies and other yummy treats for her Christmas Eve party that she has every year. Being in charge of the sweets at Christmas is pretty stressful (because let's face it, it's the goodies that are the most important).

So, with the weight of Christmas on my shoulders, I decided to try to get cracking on trying out some festive cookie recipes. While I was searching the web, I came across a recipe by Ocean Spray, of all companies, for Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

They sounded delicious and relatively simple so I gave 'em a whirl. I've actually never made any kind of oatmeal cookie so it was kind of an adventure (I spent a good deal of time in the grocery store searching for the ingredients haha).

They turned out pretty well but I like my cookies to be a little sweeter (Uriah usually comments that most cookies that I make are "too sweet"... as if there is such a thing). I suppose these are more for the adult cookie-lover.

yummmy yummy yum

  

If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake!

I tend to bake goodies when we have guests coming. As luck would have it, we have some guests arriving tonight! I've been dying to try this recipe for "spicy pumpkin cake with chocolate chunks" and visitors (especially bachelor visitors) give me the perfect excuse. Also, I won't wind up eating the whole thing by myself... which is always a concern. I am a serious fat kid in hiding (ok, maybe I'm not hiding all that well).

Although spice-type cake is probably my least favorite type of cake, it's still cake and therefore still delicious.

I meant to take a picture of it but, I ran out of time and then I cut it before I remembered that I wanted to take a picture. Pretty much a photo fail all around.

Bag it up!

Okay so, I made these a while ago and planned on using them as gift bags for all of the handmade goodies that I will be gifting for Christmas but, with the recent addition of the potholders, these will be much too small.

The reason I'm even posting this at all is because it was my first foray into button-holes on my machine. It was ANNOYING but I eventually figured it out (after much swearing).

Potholders Potholders and MORE Potholders!

Yesterday I was browsing the internet looking for something to sew because I had a lot of "scrap" fabric leftover from all of the aprons I've been making. I found a lot of potholder tutorials. A lot. So, after reviewing some of them, I headed off to the fabric store to get some insulated batting and when I came home, I got crackin'!

As for most projects, my first attempts were decent but not stellar. They'll be good to use in my own home (in fact I used a set last night to pull my chicken out of the oven). Turns out, they work better (meaning keep my hands from burning off) better than the ones I have that I purchased in stores. I was very hesitant to use them at first.

Anyway, so it will seem that everyone will get matching potholders to go along with their aprons!

Deck the Halls!

With home-made adorable-ness made with scrap fabric!! Wahoo!

This is actually twice as long but, I couldn't find a place that I could hang it so I just did the half. Please ignore the lingering Halloween decoration... we are slow to put stuff away around here.

I found this little project while searching the interwebs for things to do.

It's HERE at a fabulous little blog that I've found called MaggieMakes.

She posts lots of tutorials and inspires lots of craftiness. She also has a flickr page so, you can see lots of photos of all of her projects.

Just so you do not think I'm decorating far too early for Christmas, I have to admit that I took down the stars after 24 hours of appreciating my handiwork.

PS- I also made that "leaf art" in the frames

Bargain BBQ

Yesterday, I bought a Boston Butt Pork Roast (I have no idea why it's called a butt... from all of my research, it's a part of the shoulder?). Anyway, it was 99 cents a pound (essentially 1/2 price) so, I found the smallest one that I could (6lbs) and threw it in my cart!

It's pretty cold outside in Charlotte today (by my Florida standards) and I thought that it would be a good day to make some BBQ in the crock pot!

I decided that 6lbs was too much BBQ and it would surely go to waste if I made the whole thing (being that it's just me and Uriah), so I chopped that sucker in half. I plopped 1/2 of it in my crock pot with 1/2 a large onion and some salt and pepper and decided to freeze the other half for another time. It still looks like a LOT of pork but that's okay because I'm a big fan of leftovers!

I closed the lid and started cooking it on low for 4 1/2 hours. After that, I noticed that it wasn't cooking as quickly as I wanted (dinner would wind up being at approximately 9:30pm) so, I cut it up into 4 pieces and turned the crock pot on high.

I cooked it on high for about an hour and then I removed the onions and poured about 1/2 of an 18 oz. bottle of Hickory BBQ sauce and approximately 1.5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce over the meat, closed the lid and let it cook for another hour and a half.

Then, I shredded/chopped the pork up in the slow cooker and gave it a good stir. Cooked it on Low for another hour.

After all of that... it was ready.

I put some Tabasco sauce on mine (just a few shakes) and it was... delicious.

Best of all? Uriah loved it! He's not really picky but, when he really REALLY thinks that something is delicious, I can tell. He takes the first bite and his eyes get all big and he makes yummy sounds.

Big hit! And, really, it only cost (including the buns and the sauces) about $6. And, as anticipated, we have an abundance of leftovers. I'd say that's a (delicious) bargain!

Not your grandmother's sugar cookies

These are CHOCOLATE sugar cookies! I know, I know, they sound delicious. Well, guess what? They ARE delicious. They kind of taste like brownies but they are the texture of cookies and they are rolled in sugar (so they kind of sparkle). It doesn't get much better than that, people. It just doesn't.

I can't remember where I found this recipe, but I've made these cookies a few times now and they are always a hit.

If you want to make these yummy delicious treats, here's the recipe!

What you will need:

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

4 squares  BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

1-1/2 cups  sugar, divided

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

 

 

How all of those things come together:

 

MIX flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted (have patience). Add 1 cup sugar, egg and vanilla to the chocolate and butter mixture; mix well. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Refrigerate 30 min - 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

 

HEAT oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in remaining sugar. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets. (For thinner, crisper cookies, flatten balls with bottom of clean glass.) I like mine nice and fluffy so, I skip the flattening step.

 

BAKE 8 to 10 min. or until set. Cool on baking sheets 1 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

 

ENJOY!!

Redundancy!

Do you like seeing the same thing over and over? Yes? Good!

Finished another apron today!

I should probably take pictures of these with something other than my iPhone but, I guess I'm just lazy.

A legitimate photo shoot is pending.